Will We Hear, See, Love, and Share About God Through The Story Of A Transformational Child?
Good Morning Friends,
Today on the Winter Solstice perhaps more people will be contemplating the convergence of Saturn and Jupiter than where God is in the common Biblical story line involving today’s scripture. But if you lean into God perhaps your soul will leap in the hope that we all might find relevance in the scripture of the day for our time and not just the joy of more bright light for the path of the Wise Men following the Natal Star. Friends, it is a very short time before we celebrate Christmas itself and the birth of Christ the Lord. We contemplate a silent night even as we are invited to come near and listen in on the events that led up to it. We too can be part of joyful history that matters if we get our priorities straight by being part of His Story even during a pandemic. So, Will We Hear, See, Love, and Share About God Through The Story Of A Transformational Child?
Scripture: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38 (NIV)
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV)
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it
Zephaniah 3:14-18a (NRSV)
Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God and obey it.
Luke 11:28 (NIV)
How are they to believe in [a Savior] of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?
Romans 10:14 (NRSV)
Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
1 Peter 4:9 (NRSV)
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Romans 12:9-16 (NRSV)
Message: God loved us enough to send Jesus Christ into the world to let us know what Joy is. Although it took centuries for it to happen, God waited until the time was right, and God took on flesh to intersect the life of a poor young girl by the name of Mary. An angel had come to Mary to let her know that she had been chosen to give birth to a child who would become the savior of the world. The child would be the Son of God who would take away the sins of the world. This was the child of promise. This was the child of pain. This would be the child of joy that would transform the world. That we are still celebrating this occurrence 2000 years later is a miracle in itself. And today’s passage from Luke is setting the stage to help bring the reality of it into our lives now. What is happening is that Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Mary is probably tired, confused, and worn out. Nobody has believed that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her marriage to her fiancé Joseph now has a dark cloud over it. Her relationship with her family is rocky. Interestingly, Elizabeth has had a miracle of her own, in that she is an elderly woman who has gotten pregnant for the first time in her life. In this passage, Mary has made the journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is also expecting a very special baby, who will be born and become John the Baptist. When Mary arrives at her cousin’s house and speaks to Elizabeth, the baby, John the Baptist in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy. This same kind of joy that comes to a mother to be when the child kicks as a sign of life is to come to us as part of our celebration of the history of how God came to be one of us. We too are part of a living history this year. Now can be a time of joy and whether or not the precise date we celebrate it was the precise time Jesus was born really does not matter. The point is that Mary was pregnant and visiting her cousin Elizabeth at some point and the reality is that this timeline sets the stage for the incarnation of God into human history and into our stories too. We can learn from the attitude of Zechariah who extended Jewish hospitality hosting Mary in his home for perhaps three months not even realizing that the reality of Mary with child was essentially the Ark of the Covenant in his home. Friends, this Christmas perhaps we in remembrance of these events can be a host in our homes to the Spirit of Joy, Peace and Hope, but especially Love.
And So, we are to marvel at the miracle of love at Christmas that came down from heaven to guide us and save us. So, essentially today’s message is about the miracle of love and our response to it. Everyone needs to hear that they are loved, and people need to see it too. But we only really hear it when our soul glorifies the Lord, and that force is born in us in a way that brings peace. Mary, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist recognized the miracle of this love. They recognized that with God nothing is impossible. In the Christmas story we begin to understand the salvation and miracle Mary recognized in Jesus and the salvation and miracle the Wise men believed in manifested in the gifts they bring. We too must recognize and anticipate the power of the Holy Spirit at work birthing the Good News in us. Mary was the first person to carry the Gospel. I hope you hear this message in today’s scripture and that this speaks to you of the power of Christ. And I hope you also see that we too can share in the experience. The possibilities are endless when we pattern our choices after Mary’s response to her call: ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Perhaps we too can hear that we have been chosen to have a relationship with the Lord…perhaps we too in our own special way are highly favored.
Friends, for the God we worship, the God of the Universe nothing is impossible. He rules over everything. He is the Miracle Worker so expect a miracle.
Pray we listen to God’s good news. Pray we usher Jesus into our homes this season. Pray we have the courage to look and the faith to see and the ears to hear God in our lives. Pray that we acknowledge just how powerful the Lord is…the reality that He is as close as the mention of His name. Pray that we share in the greatest miracle of all…love. Pray that we do not miss out on what Mary discovered. Pray we see, we hear, and we know God’s joyful promises. Pray we see, we hear, and we know God’s voice of blessing. Pray we learn how to listen to God through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. Pray we learn to listen to others reflecting the Christ in them. Pray the fruit of Mary’s womb prompt us to show hospitality to others in new ways. Pray we let the Holy Spirit produce fruit in us so that we too might know the joy of God. Pray our lives and homes produce the fruit of the Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Pray we realize that this fruit is the fruit of Christ’s own character within us. Pray we realize that Jesus wants to become a guest in our homes and heart to transform us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 